Seattle Mariners

Felix Hernandez hasn’t pitched since September 2 due to a minor oblique strain on his left side, but he’s hoping to rejoin the Mariners’ rotation as soon as next week. According to Greg Johns of MLB.com, Hernandez didn’t have any problems throwing off flat ground prior to yesterday’s game against the Cardinals. He’s scheduled to…

Facing an infield shift with the bases empty and two outs in the first inning, Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano bunted down the third base line against Red Sox starter John Lackey. With third baseman Will Middlebrooks playing too far off the line, the ball trickled towards the stands to the left of the line. Shortstop…

Indians 14, White Sox 3: Ryan Raburn went 3 for 3 with a homer and five RBI. The Tribe put up a seven spot in the fifth inning in which the first nine batters who came to the plate reached. They keep pace with the Rays, who also won, and remain one and a half games…

Grant Brisbee pretty ably sums up the future of Derek Jeter at shortstop for the New York Yankees. Specifically, that he has none. That even if he exercises his player option for next year and comes back it’s likely to be as the Yankees DH/utility guy because he’ll be 40 and shortstops just don’t play…

As first reported by MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart, the Yankees have acquired shortstop Brendan Ryan from the Mariners for a player to be named later. If you needed any further indication that Derek Jeter‘s left ankle soreness is a concern, this would be it. Ryan is one of the best defensive shortstops in baseball, but he…

Last week Felix Hernandez had his start delayed due to what the Mariners were calling a lower back cramp, but it turns out it was actually an oblique injury and now he’ll miss the rescheduled start too. Hernandez was supposed to pitch Wednesday against the Astros, but Brandon Maurer will take his place after a…

Dodgers 8, Diamondbacks 1: Three bombs for Juan Uribe and four driven in. What a season for the guy who, in his first two years in Dodger blue, looked lost and, frankly, over. This year he’s hitting .279/.334/.476, is playing excellent defense at third and who has been, by all accounts, a great guy in…

Mariners rookie starter Taijuan Walker will make his final start of the 2013 season against the Astros on Monday, reports MLB.com’s Greg Johns. Brandon Maurer will take his spot in the rotation. Walker spent most of his season between Double-A Jackson and Triple-A Tacoma, posting an aggregate 2.93 ERA in 141.1 innings. He made his…

Orioles 3, White Sox 1: The Orioles win and, frankly, I’m going to credit playing at home. Yep, nothing like a home game. Makes all the difference. And if you think for a minute I’m irrationally beating this into the ground, go take a gander at the NFL Industrial Complex’s collective and concerted moaning and…

Felix Hernandez won’t pitch again until next Wednesday after leaving Monday’s game with what was called a lower back cramp, MLB.com reports. “He feels good and wants to start on Sunday, but we’re going to be cautious with him,” manager Eric Wedge said. “We want him to get some flat ground work, get another bullpen…

Twins 10, Astros 6: Rookie and independent league veteran Chris Colabello homered twice including a grand slam to break a 6-6 tie in the ninth. Entering Sunday he was on an 0 for 23 skid and now here he is having the best day of his life. Probably the best day he’ll ever have at a ballpark.…

The Mariners designated starter Aaron Harang for assignment last week. This week he’s latched on with the Mets, albeit on a minor league deal. Weird year for Harang. Overall he compiled a 5-11 record with a 5.76 ERA. Not great, but mixed in there were two shutouts and five starts in which he allowed just one run.…

24-year-old rookie Brett Oberholtzer blanked the Mariners over nine innings this afternoon, becoming the first Astro to throw a complete game since Jordan Lyles on September 30 last year. Lyles was also the last to throw a shutout. Oberholtzer allowed just four hits and one walk while striking out five. Mariners starter Hisashi Iwakuma was…

Tom Wilhelmsen was demoted to Triple-A Tacoma on August 6 and registered a 10.50 ERA over 12 2/3 innings there, but the Mariners have decided to recall him anyway because Tacoma’s season is just about over and major league rosters have expanded to 40. “Hopefully he can flip that switch again,” manager Eric Wedge told…

Baseball America rated pitcher Taijuan Walker the #18 overall prospect going into the season, putting a lot of expectations on the 21-year-old entering his fourth year of professional baseball. He pitched well enough with Double-A Jackson, though, to warrant a mid-season promotion to Triple-A Tacoma. There, he averaged better than a strikeout per inning and…

Shortly after adding a right-handed bat in Michael Morse the Orioles have added a left-handed bat in Dan Johnson, signing the veteran first baseman to a minor-league deal after he opted out of a deal with the Yankees. Johnson has spent all season playing at Triple-A for the Yankees, hitting .253 with 21 homers and…

Baltimore wasn’t able to come to an agreement with Minnesota for Josh Willingham, but the Orioles have added a right-handed power hitter in acquiring Michael Morse from Seattle for Triple-A outfielder Xavier Avery. Morse, unlike Willingham, is an impending free agent, so the Mariners were perfectly willing to let him go following a very disappointing…

This is in keeping with my observation from the other day that, when talking about the pitchers of yesteryear and their heavy work loads, people almost always talk about the exceptional and other-worldly talented, not the ones who never made it because their arms blew out. Here’s Tom Seaver talking to Bill Madden of the…

Last night we learned that the Orioles were awarded the claim on Twins left fielder Josh Willingham, giving them until Friday to work out a potential deal, and now they’ve claimed another right-handed bat. Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports that the Orioles were awarded the claim on Mariners left fielder Michael Morse, who’s similar to…

Kendrys Morales was placed on revocable waivers by the Mariners and got claimed, but Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports that Seattle pulled him back and will be keeping the switch-hitter for the remainder of the season. Who knows what type of offer they got for Morales, but if the Mariners turned down any kind of…

Braves 2, Indians 0: Tom Glavine with eight shutout innings and David Justice with a big homer. Wait, sorry. Having flashbacks. The real amazing thing here is that if you would have told me before the season that the Braves would have a game in late August where Elliot Johnson got a start and tripled…

So I’m reading the latest Jon Heyman column and I’m finding myself agreeing with him more than I am with people coming at the issue he’s discussing from a sabermetric point of view. And I wasn’t even hit on the head this morning or anything. The topic: the Kill The Win campaign Brian Kenny has…

The Mariners now have an opening for Taijuan Walker in their rotation if they want to take it. Aaron Harang, who have up seven runs in 5 2/3 innings Sunday in a loss to the Angels, was designated for assignment Monday. It was the fourth time in his last eight starts that he had given…

Orioles 4, Rays 2: Chris Davis homers again. Number 46 on the year. He’s four short of the all-time Orioles record. He tied Rafael Palmiero for the most home homers in Orioles history with 25. Tommy Hunter got the save, as it does appear that Buck Showalter is gonna go with the hot hand now.…

Yankees 9, Red Sox 6: All of the fireworks. All of the intrigue. All of the A-Rod. But this game really came down to the bullpens. The Yankees’ was fresh and effective, the Red Sox’ wasn’t. Our more thorough write-up can be read here. For now the Red Sox probably need to think less about…